43. Nagatomo (Part 1)

◎Suddenly hot, sometimes cold, sometimes hot; sometimes near, sometimes far◎

Lou Tinglan felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a swallow fluttering down onto his shoulder, its sharp beak carrying a sound transmission talisman.

He slowly unfolded the talisman, and Lou Guan's voice came from it: "Tinglan, there are still two hours left until the end of the competition. There are still eight teams left in the cauldron, so the First Elder, the Third Elder, and I have decided to determine the winner by duel. You will keep an eye on things from the sidelines."

As the talisman fell, the ground beneath their feet trembled and made a loud rumbling sound.

The ruins, which were originally scattered in various places, are now being pieced together again and brought together.

Ran Qinghe thought they had encountered the strange activity in the ruins again, and turned to look at Lou Tinglan who was following them in the distance. Coincidentally, at the same time, he was also looking at her.

Their eyes met amidst the deafening roar, yet they both instinctively avoided each other's gazes.

Ran Qinghe couldn't fathom Lou Tinglan's thoughts. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she sensed something about him based solely on his actions in the Mirror Domain. However, she couldn't be certain of his intentions.

Her mind was in turmoil because of these thoughts. She thought to herself that if she had also cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness and planted some kind of Dao Heart Seal, she wouldn't be at a loss for how to deal with him now. When she met his blunt gaze, she thought of running away at first glance.

Lou Tinglan, meanwhile, was troubled by the fluctuations in his Dao Heart Seal caused by her. Since his youth, both his uncles and elders had been silently conveying a deeply ingrained concept to him.

He will take on the important responsibility of the Discipline Hall in the future, and he will help the five sects to resolve injustices. Every action he takes should be measured and exemplary. However, the Dao Heart Kalpa Seal has become an extremely unstable factor.

The disappearance of the Dao Heart Seal signifies falling into the Dao, and no one would believe that someone who has fallen into the Dao could become the leader of the Discipline Hall.

He carefully put away the headband, restraining himself as he thought that perhaps that unknown feeling was just curiosity about her. He rarely saw such a vibrant person as her, which was why he was aroused and why the calamity seal fluctuated because of her.

When it comes to feelings, the more you forcefully suppress them, the stronger the backlash will be. If you let things take their natural course, even the deepest feelings will eventually settle into a more ordinary state.

With that thought in mind, he simply followed his heart, stepped forward, grasped her wrist, and steadied her.

Ran Qinghe was startled and tried to pull away, but was held firmly in her grasp. She said sarcastically and angrily, "Let go of me now! What's wrong with you?"

The moment he came into contact with her, he felt the Dao Heart Tribulation Seal tremble even more violently. He said earnestly, "Don't worry, there will be no danger. The ruins in the cauldron are merging, which is why they are trembling so violently."

Who asked him? She said that Lou Tinglan is the most inexplicable person in the world, sometimes cold, sometimes warm, sometimes close, sometimes distant.

When the trembling of the earth stopped, she angrily shook off his arm.

Lou Tinglan rubbed his fingertips, feeling a little calmer. It seemed that the more he tried to stay away from her, the more it would have the opposite effect; the closer he got to her, the more he could calm down.

Meanwhile, the remaining seven teams crossed the barrier and stood in silent confrontation.

After Lou Tinglan announced the rules of the battle, the atmosphere among the cultivators present became even more tense. Since they were able to come from various sects to participate in the selection at the Discipline Hall, their strength was already considerable.

However, they were still somewhat inferior to Qingxiao's team of five Nascent Soul Realm experts. If they followed the rules, they might only have a 30% chance of winning, so no one was willing to make the first move.

Only a small team of five Xuan Shui disciples took the lead, while everyone else observed them discreetly in order to find any flaws.

The leading Xuan Shui Sect disciple rummaged through his storage bag. It seemed he was looking for a magical artifact for combat; Xuan Shui was skilled in artifact crafting, and any spiritual weapon used in a decisive battle would certainly be extraordinary.

This Xuan Shui disciple was an old acquaintance of hers; he was none other than Yuan Yao.

It's here!

Everyone held their breath, and Yuan Yao finally pulled a... small hammer out of his bag.

Could this be the latest magical artifact crafted by the Xuan Shui Sect? Why have they never seen it before?

Yuan Yao tapped his small hammer and said passionately, "It is fate that we, the people of Xuan Shui, are gathered here. To be honest, we are only interested in participating, not in winning. Therefore, we are willing to offer the jade ring with both hands, but..."

A disciple of Qingxiao asked, "But what?"

The Qingxiao disciple who answered the question was named Minhou, and he was one of the five members of the Nascent Soul Realm team.

Yuan Yao continued, "We just need everyone to contribute some spirit stones. Then we can crush the jade ring and leave, saving us the trouble of fighting."

The Marquis of Min scoffed dismissively, making no attempt to hide his mockery, and tossed out a storage bag. "Why wait for others to contribute? Here's a thousand high-grade spirit stones for you to buy your jade ring."

The cultivators present gasped in disbelief. As expected of Qingxiao, the number one sect.

Yuan Yao was overjoyed to accept the spirit stones, and immediately struck the gavel, saying, "Deal." As soon as he finished speaking, he crushed the jade ring to pieces and disappeared from the spot.

The other teams glanced at Lou Tinglan, but he made no move, seemingly tacitly approving of the cultivators using any means necessary, and they too were tempted. Minhou then threw out six more bags of high-grade spirit stones, arrogantly declaring:

"If you were to clash with Qingxiao, at best your spiritual energy would be disrupted, and at worst your Qi Sea would collapse. It would be better to take these high-grade spirit stones and return to the sect to cultivate some more as soon as possible."

They would be eliminated sooner or later if they fought against five Nascent Soul Realm Qingxiao disciples, so they might as well leave first and at least get spirit stones. Therefore, they used spirit stones to bribe four teams in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Seeing that the remaining three teams wouldn't leave, Minhou raised the stakes again, throwing another storage bag in front of them, "Add another thousand spirit stones, are you leaving or not?"

Ran Qinghe smiled. She was still thinking about how to fight against these five Nascent Soul Realm disciples, but who knew that Marquis Min had already humiliated the team present.

Yuan Yao's unexpected move eliminated all the teams that might have been recruited by Min Hou, and the remaining teams naturally couldn't stand Min Hou's arrogant attitude of throwing spirit stones at them.

A disciple of the Buddha's Hand Sect beside her had already sent out a yellow talisman. "So what if your cultivation level is high? It's just because you've cultivated for a few more years."

Minhou and his fellow disciples immediately met the challenge, lightly holding the yellow talisman in their hands, still feeling disdain in their hearts.

But Ran Qinghe suddenly took control of the yellow talisman and rewrote it into an explosive talisman. In just one breath, the talisman exploded on the spot.

The Marquis of Min angrily said, "Now it is our turn to fight them, how dare you, a mere girl, interfere?"

Ran Qinghe said dismissively, "Oh? But I remember that the rules didn't say that only one team could play against another."

Her words also awakened the remaining team that had been watching from the sidelines, turning what was originally a one-on-one situation into a three-on-one one.

After a long and arduous battle, the toughest opponent was the first to be eliminated, dragging down another team in the process.

Ran Qinghe, whip in hand, addressed the last remaining team: "How about it? Do you want to continue fighting?"

The Buddha Hand Sect disciple, already lying on the ground, waved his hand weakly, "Sister, I can't fight anymore." The one who spoke was the one who had first attacked and injured Min Hou.

He said, "Sister, I admit defeat today. However, you must remember my name, Xu Chengtian. Five years from now, I will be your junior brother."

The battle had already exhausted his spiritual energy, while Ran Qinghe's spiritual energy remained unfathomable. Helpless, he crushed the jade ring in his hand.

The next second.

She swayed and fell heavily to the ground. Before she hit the ground, a white-gold figure pulled her into an embrace.

*

In the main hall of the Discipline Hall, three elders sat in the center. Lou Zhen frowned, his face cold, seemingly extremely dissatisfied with the selection results.

Lou Guan calmly waved his sleeve, and five disciple tokens floated in front of the five people below the hall.

The disciple token of Yunya Academy is carved from thousand-year-old cold jade. It is not only a certificate of identity for entering and leaving the academy, but also a talisman.

The jade felt cool to the touch. Ran Qinghe held it in her hand for a while, but found it uninteresting, so she threw the disciple token back again.

"I forgot to tell the elders that I will not be entering Yunya Academy."

Lou Guan gently tapped his forehead and smiled tenderly, "Why? Since you participated in the academy's selection, you must have initially longed for the academy. Young friend Ran, could you tell me what changed your mind?"

She scoffed, "Is the Second Elder playing dumb with me? Wasn't it the Elder who interfered in the Mirror Domain matter? The Elder wanted to kill me, so why should I go and let you manipulate me?"

Lou Guan maintained his smile and frankly admitted, "Regarding the Mirror Domain, I admit that I had some probing intentions. It was my fault. Whatever compensation you want, whatever I have, I will do my best to provide."

She continued, "The compensation I want is to leave this academy."

In her eyes, Yunya Academy, like Qingxiao Academy, was devoid of any fairness. If she went in, she would simply be falling from one den of wolves to another.

Lou Guan said, "But you need to know that this academy selection is for the whole team. If you withdraw, it means that the team has lost a person, which goes against the academy's selection rules."

Her words carried a veiled threat, implying that if she withdrew, the other four would also be excluded.

Ran Qinghe: "You..."

Hua Jin stroked the cat in his arms and spoke up at the right time, "Qing He, you don't need to worry about me. I came here just for the novelty. Whether I'm selected or not, I don't care."

Shui Rong'er also said, "We only had the opportunity to participate in the selection because of you. If it weren't for you, Fu Ji and I would have been eliminated long ago. Just take care of yourself."

Fu Ji nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Mingyu also hurriedly expressed her opinion, "Me too, at worst I'll just go back to Qingxiao. Anyway, I've been rejected so many times, so one more time won't make a difference."

Lou Guan chuckled softly: "I never thought that while some people would fight tooth and nail to get into Yunya Academy, others would discard it like trash."

Lou Guan finally stood up, walked down the steps to meet her gaze: "If I could give you the Breakthrough Pill you want, what would you give me?"